Homeday took 16 factors into account to produce its rankings, including measures for education, housing, safety, unemployment, kid-friendliness, healthcare, and general happiness.

1. Copenhagen, Denmark

2. Oslo, Norway

3. Zurich, Switzerland

4. Stockholm, Sweden

5. Hamburg, Germany

6. Vancouver, Canada

7. Basel, Switzerland

8. Toronto, Canada

9. Stuttgart, Germany

10. Munich, Germany

11. Lausanne, Switzerland

12. Vienna, Austria

Consistency wins out, while the US gives a lukewarm showing

The fact that the top five includes three Nordic countries shouldn’t come as a surprise. Many of the factors in Homeday’s rankings reward aspects of social welfare that Denmark, Norway, and Sweden have sought to strengthen for decades. Each of the three capital cities routinely appears in other rankings of quality of life, education, and healthcare.

Homeday standardised each metric out of a score of 10, so the highest-performing city in each category became the benchmark. Oslo earned a 10 for happiness, and Stockholm earned a 10 for healthcare.

Copenhagen didn’t earn any first place rankings individually; however, it was the consistently high rankings that pushed it to the top. Less-family-friendly cities did poorly because their scores fluctuated from one ranking to the next. Stuttgart received a 10 in the green spaces category but placed 9th due partly to a 3.64 in transportation and 4.18 in kid-friendly airports.

American cities don’t appear on Homeday’s list inside the top 30. Seattle, Washington placed 31st; Houston, Texas came 35th; and Boston, Massachusetts came 36th. Since the US is only one of four countries without nationally mandated parental leave, all three cities earned a 1 in that category.

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